Hammer size

[Coleman6488]

Does anybody have any sort of rule of thumb for what size hammer to use for different situations/anvil sizes, etc?  Newbie trying to sponge as much info as possible, apologize if the question is stupid or often-asked.

Thanks!

 

[JHCC]

Generally, the right size hammer will be big enough for the smith to hit with power and light enough to hit with accuracy. How much power is needed will depend on the amount of metal you need to move for a particular job. How much accuracy you can achieve with a given hammer weight will depend on your own levels of strength and skill.

As for hammer:anvil weight ratios, there's a good discussion of this on another IFI thread. 

[Coleman6488]

Thank you!

[gote]

I think that as has been pointed out, the hammer weight depends upon the work but perhaps more on the smith. There is no rule of thumb. Thick stock means heavier hammer. Control is important. A tired smith looses control. Thus if you start missing, take some rest. A lighter hammer is less tiring so start your career with a lighter. If you find that you need to hold close to the head, the hammer is too heavy. My favourite hammer is 1,25 kg but sometimes a 2kg hammer works better but I cannot use it for more than a short  time without starting to miss. For light work I sometimes use a 0.9 kg hammer. However, this is me not you. You have to find out for yourself.

[Frosty]

Accuracy is THE most important general rule of blacksmithing so in general you're better off with a LITTLE to light a hammer than too heavy. I recommend about 32 oz. as a max weight for beginners a drill hammer is one of my favorite general off the shelf hammers. The shorter handle and modest weight are excellent for accurate work no matter your skill level.

Once you're developed proficiency at the craft use common sense and what YOU like.

Frosty The Lucky.

[SReynolds]

A smithing book I recently read stated that this individual likes to hold the hammer near the head. That is what she likes and that is what she does.  Makes a living at the trade doing it that way. 

Lots of different opinions. 

I was informed by a professional smith I can't be taken seriously if I swing a 2-pound hammer.  He didn't ask what I was making.

If you smith in public; hecklers. They will take notice if you swing a hammer and there is four inches of handle not used.  Employ a short handle or thick skin.

It is fun to bet someone cash-money you can hit their hand if placed atop the anvil, even though you don't hold the hammer correctly. 

I personally use a 16 oz up to a 6 pound.

 

[gote]

This is very individual and the only criterion if it works for the individual or not. My point is that if you normally hold a hammer - say for nailing - with five inches between hand and hammer head and you suddenly find that you are holding your smithing hammer two inches from the head, this is because the hammer is to heavy for you. A close grip gives more control and gives less effort in the wrist but it also diminishes the speed of the head. I think that this has been tested by someone who could measure the impact but I do not know where the thread is.

A light hammer with high speed can have the same energy as a heavy hammer with a lower speed but the result is different. The deformation in the stock tends to be more on the surface with the lighter hammer. Thus for thicker stock we need a heavier hammer. The heavier hammer strains the wrist more by the bending moment so it is less effort to lift it closer to the handle. The strain on the wrist is directly proportional to the distance wrist-hammer head.

[Alan Evans]

Alan Knight the smith I worked and trained with, spent his whole life working in the 18 Century / baroque idiom, so smaller sections and elements forged to shape and then fire welded together. He used a lot of wrought iron.

His main forging hammers were standard 1 1/2 lb engineers ball pein hammers with long handles. One was flat (crowned) and the other was a full faced hammer. He did use leafing hammers and other specialist shapes for specialist processes of course. He frequently forged all day well into is seventies. 

The sections were light and his energy was directed into putting the hammer down fast and in the right place rather than lifting it. He used the profiles of the anvil to direct the flow of metal. He was rare in that he always forged waterleaves from flat bar, instead of the current practice of forming them from heavy sheet, spreading them out along the axis of the bick with the full faced hammer which I think gives them much more articulation.

With the right weight of hammer for the project the rebound does most of the lifting.

Alan

[SReynolds]

My students have difficulty understanding that. I demonstrate they work faster with a heavier hammer as it produces more work in less time, but they rather swing a small hammer for a longer period of time.

 

[gote]

OOps I meant closer to the head.

[SmoothBore]

All I know FOR SURE, ... is that there's no one "right" answer to this question.

 

I too like a Drilling Hammer, ( #4 ) for "general purpose" work.

( Yeah, yeah, yeah, ... I know that's not what you're "supposed" to use,  ... but until the "Hammer Police" track me down, I'll keep doing it my way ..... )

[SReynolds]

Oh...the hammer police! Yes. Yes. I have encountered them time to time. They are upset cuz you be hammering hot iron, and they be following the wife about  and herding the kids at the fair grounds that day. Remember them quite well......

[Charles R. Stevens]

I must say I use 8oz to 14# hammer, depends on the job. Handle shape has a lot to do with it. Personaly I use a handle that is the length from my first knuckle to the inside of my elbo, of a "blacksmiths profile. I still have to shave it down, as a two large handle leads to fatigue. I don't swing that 14# more than once or twice, but I use 3# all day working in the shop, and a 2# rounding hammer in the feild. 

Choking up allows you to use a larger hammer for more delicat work, but if you find your cokeing up all the time get a lighter hammer.  

[Frosty]

I love it when the hammer police or my grandfather was a real blacksmith folk show up. If they're persistent enough to stick after a couple polite replies on my end I do the horrible to them. I'll pick a piece of 1/2" sq. about 6" long and lay it on the anvil, then offer them a pair of safety glasses and the hammer. I've never had one do anything but leave and I go back to work without comment. It really scores points with the audience.

Who knows maybe some day someone will accept the hammer and I'll learn something, I have hope. So far a frustrated hope though. <sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

It also works for folks who "learned to smith playing video games"

[Frosty]

I wish. The video game blacksmiths want to apprentice so they can become a blacksmith. That makes them a blacksmith doesn't it or do you have to turn in some bitcoins or something?

We REALLY need to bring back shop classes up to the occupational shop classes that left a grad well enough trained to make paying for OJT worth the investment to employers.

Frosty The Lucky.

[muddawgchuck]

Going to add another question to this thread.  What are the preferred handle materials ya'll use?  I am green green at this but find myself picking up a 2lb metal handle engineer hammer most often.

[gote]

I prefer wood. Stright grained and not too soft. Because of the dutch elm disease I have a lot of dead seasoned elm so I tend to use that but I used pine (Pinius silvestris) when in a hurry and it still works but I do not use that hammer a lot. A big advantage is that you can shape your handle so it fits you rather than the manufacturer's designer.

[jlpservicesinc]

I have hammers weighing from just a few Oz's to 10lbs for one hand use..   As I have gotten older the ability to use a large hammer proficiently and effectively has dwindled some..  Swinging the 6lbs ain't what it used to be.. 

So for general forging work I use 3 hammers.. 3lbs, 4 lbs and a 6lbs..  I have learned that  effectively transmitting hammer force through the center of the bar to be the most prudent. part and this dictates which size hammer for the right size stock at the correct temperature..  If you are forging a rod and it hollows at the end. its because of hammer size, temperature and technique.. 

Also as you forge more you will find you can move larger sections of metal faster with being less tired as you are forging the material vs just beating it.. 

And you will start to recognize which hammer for which kind of work.. 

for heavy hammers I like a heavy handle and as the hammer weight goes down so does the neck of the hammer.. 

I used to be a long handle person and if the hammer is light enough the long handle give it more speed which imparts a more piercing blow which basically does the same as a larger hammer moving slower..  

Personally I just can't hammer as fast as I used to as well.. So, just enjoy and as things (muscle memory, what you are seeing, and eye hand coordination) get better so will your hammering.. 

Oh, one other point.. A solidly mounted anvil  is the most important part, as you can lose as much as 70% of the force to floor spring or bounce and this will make you think you need a bigger hammer.. 

 

Work smarter not harder..  

[Frosty]

I make slab handles from 5/4 straight grain hickory I buy from a specialty hardwood supplier. The handle widens from the head to the end to a small bulb shape. They're finished with furniture wax applied at about 170f.

Being rectangular aligned with the hammer head makes it easy to index, the head always strikes level side to side unless I need to tip it. Flat and tapered makes it easy to hold in a loose grip so it's less tiring to use. The bulb end is something I put on the first one in case it slipped and has become something of a tradition even though the taper prevents the hammer from slipping from your grip. It's purely reflex to tight your grip on something to keep from losing it the taper is like a hot button in your brain and your hand snaps shut if it slips in the least.

Frosty The Lucky.

[aessinus]

"Slab" handles similar to Frosty (love that description, Sir), but hackberry instead.  Those things grow any/everywhere across north Tx & I cut ém for handles at work & home from the fencelines & right-of-ways around all three properties.  Carry a folding Bahco saw in my vehicle for that express purpose.  Rather like stopping for roadkill rust.

Apparently they are in the elm family, but they are tough enough to take the 5 year drought we just finished without issue.  Make tough,springy handles.  My goto 3# even has a slight curve so I can feel where the rounding face is without looking

[Frosty]

I had to look Hackberry up I'd never heard of it. The Wiki article I read says it's easy to distinguish from Elm and has a completely different scientific name, Celtis, etc.etc. Bearing in mind that's Wiki and automatically suspect but it was first hit and handy.

Below is a pic of one of my slab handled hammers.

Frosty The Lucky.

[aessinus]

7 hours ago, Frosty said:

I had to look Hackberry up I'd never heard of it. The Wiki article I read says it's easy to distinguish from Elm and has a completely different scientific name, Celtis, etc.etc. Bearing in mind that's Wiki and automatically suspect but it was first hit and handy.

Bad on my google fu & memory, Frosty; I should have checked.  They are easy to distinguish tho.  Leaves are half spear, half heart, bark on a tree much bigger than my leg gets to be almost like short stubby thorns.  Was mislocated to Pennsylvania (not AK, but too cold for native Texans) for 7 years & they even grow up there.  Maybe you have them near the coast.  Look for ugly, brushy fencelines.

 

[rthibeau]

I buy handles from Tennessee Hickory Handles and made drifts to fit those handles.  Never had good luck with trying to make handles from scratch. Hammer weights are particularly weird for anyone to figure out except by experience.  I have hammers from a few ounces up to 20 lbs and various shapes.  I use whatever is handy or fits the purpose.  YMMV.

[muddawgchuck]

Thanks for all the replies.  Never knew Hackberry trees were good for handles.